Education in Taos: CRAB Hall Wins One

Budget and Union Matters

On Wed. afternoon, June 2, after attending a funeral, my driver, Gene Sanchez, a Taos town councilman, insisted on stopping by the Celestino Romero Administration Building (CRAB Hall) for a meeting of the Taos Municipal Schools board budget meeting. The board was in executive session so we chatted with  union representatives and teachers, Jeff Carr and Orion Cervio, who were waiting in the empty hall. Hank Archuleta, a former Taos High teacher and union president was also present. Though I don’t know Carr well, I am familiar with Cervio’s character and skill as a writer and know his parents. Hank and I have known each other for forty years. We discussed the union’s negotiations with the administration.

The board emerged from executive session and the CRAB Hall administrators drifted in to sit at their newly designated table in front of the public seating. Administrators, like unruly children, have been assigned front seats so that they will behave in socially acceptable ways, according to the news reports. No members of the media were present, so this freelance writer took notes.

Union representative Carr spoke to the board and said in return for “no cut in pay” the union was willing to relinquish “steps” or standard raises that come due to seniority and qualifications. Carr called for equitable salary schedules and said neither block scheduling nor a four-day workweek was a sticking point. He did say working an extra half hour was not acceptable.

Carr discussed teacher difficulties: second jobs, day care, high cost of living, hours volunteered without compensation for school events, etc. The union president reminded the board that insurance costs and retirement contributions had increased for teachers, so a pay cut, in addition to sacrificing “steps” was too steep a price to pay.

(Historically, Taos and Albuquerque teachers are the only public school teachers who work only 6.5 hours per day, on site, so to speak. Union leaders say the Taos elementary school teachers have historically voted against an increase in the number of hours.)

Carr said teacher morale was down, which leads to more sick leave and the inability to retain teachers. Low morale made it difficult to recommend working for the public schools in Taos, Carr said.

Board member Stella Gallegos asked Carr if the teachers blamed the board for low morale.

“Morale isn’t attached to the board,” said Carr. “Morale is attached to administration or the superintendent, when (teachers ) are threatened with firing.” He said teachers become discouraged when they make recommendations and administrators ignore them. “Increments help morale, cuts hurt. It’s the principle of the buy-in v. being forced. Top-down v. bottom up management.”

Under questioning by board member Arsenio Cordova, who has long advocated an increase in the number of hours worked by teachers, Carr urged the board member to look in another direction: “Nineteen administrators add up to $1.2 million or ten percent of the budget for personnel. It’s top heavy.”

TMS business manager Spinelli said he prepared current salary schedules for teachers and  administrators at the board’s direction  but had no agreement with the union regarding cuts. He recommended a 1.5% across the board for teachers and administrators with the exception of staff making $25,000 or less. Superintendent Weston recommended the budget as proposed to the board. The board approved the budget, voting four to one, with board member Gallegos dissenting.

(According to Carr, the budget item was not listed as an “action item” on the agenda and the board may have violated the Open Meetings Act by taking action. If true, the board will have to re-schedule the item for another meeting. Insiders say Carr is discussing the board and Superintendent’s “bad faith” negotiations with the union and alleged violation of the Open Meetings Act with Secretary Garcia the weekend of June 5 & 6.)

Gallegos called into question the “fairness” of the cuts, including the last minute presentation of salary schedules by Spinelli that day–on Wed. June 2. Spinelli pleaded workload. According to board members and union representatives negotiations and budget committees have been meeting for months—yet the board was not given salary schedules until the last minute, according to Gallegos.

Board Chair Coca-Ruiz emphasized that she wanted the board to meet PED budget deadlines and approve Weston’s recommendation.

After the board approved the budget, Carr and Cervio said the union would consider requesting arbitration and a ruling on prohibitive practices, due to bad faith. The administration continued to reduce pay cut offers, while attaching other demands to the series of 1%, 0%, and now, 1.5% pay cuts. Carr has said Weston and administrators cancelled negotiating sessions arbitrarily. Weston, in response, said the sticking point for the administration concerned the lack of the union’s agreement to work an extra ½ hour per day.

Former union president Hank Archuleta said the teachers could easily appeal and win a ruling from the arbitrator.  If the union wins an appeal, the budget will come back to the board. Administrators and board members who supported the budget may be counting on popular support as well as the budget shortfall to undermine the union. Some folks call it union busting.

There was an elephant in the room Wednesday, nobody  mentioned: high salaried administrators.

(Editor’s Note: Here’s a curiosity. Apparently Superintendent’s Weston is carrying on Interim Superintendent Marmol’s “basketball” feud with the little big man from Mora. Branch has got to pay, according to the e-mail intercepted below.

From: Dr. Rod Weston
To: “James Branch”
Date: Wed, Jun 2, 9:18 PM -0400
Subject: Re: Applicant for SFHS Job

Mr. Branch,

I just opened this e-mail.  You should know that the Athletic Directorposition in Taos will be a half-time position next year.  I had wanted totell you this in person, but am replying immediately as this information maychange your mind about the Santa Fe position.

Rod Weston)

The Gang Who Can’t Shoot Straight

Dear Dr. Garcia,

This past Wednesday, the Taos Municipal School Board had a special meeting
to approve the budget.  The meeting was properly warned.  The topic did
appear on the agenda.  Unfortunately, the word “action” did not appear.  In
checking with legal counsel, I find that we need to be consistent, either
listing action items or not listing them as such in one way or the other.
Since we have listed some items as “action” in the past, the budget has been
placed on the agenda for this coming Wednesday.  It is listed as an “action”
item and will be re-addressed and voted on again.

I apologize for this situation and accept responsibility.

Regards,
Rod Weston, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Taos Municipal Schools

Letter to Garcia

Dear Madam Secretary,

I would like to bring the following to your attention:

Taos Municipal School Board violated the open meetings act by discussing non-confidential budget and negotiation items in executive session with the Administration Negotiating team.

Taos Municipal School Board did not say upon coming out of executive session whether any decisions were made.

Taos Municipal School Board voted on the budget, a non-action item.

No minutes were take on the vote as the Superintendent’s secretary had left unless it was recorded.

I am asking in my capacity as President of the Taos Federation of United School Employees(affiliate of AFTNM and AFT) that this board be suspended and that this budget not be approved post haste, so that the state labor be upheld, so that we may file a PPC with the New Mexico State Labor Board.

Sincerely,

Jeff Carr
History Teacher/President, TFUSE
Taos High School

The Elephant in the Room

Reportedly, Weston makes over a hundred thousand dollars; Spinelli in the 90s; and THS principal Rodney Litke, earns about $97,000 and receives a free mobile home space in which to live on the Ranchos Elementary School grounds. Director of Instruction Rose Martinez, the person, who can be considered most responsible for curriculum and student performance “in the race to the bottom” at TMS, makes, reportedly, more than $80,000 a year.

Board members say evaluations for administrators and teachers are cursory—nobody gets laid off for poor performance—except students. The lack of authentic evaluation procedures empowers incompetence and celebrates mediocrity. During the last decade record numbers of students have left the district, performed below state standards on tests, and graduated in far fewer numbers than their peers in other New Mexico communities, according to state records.

Currently, almost 800 students have been certified as “special needs” children in the district. The state reimburses TMS for special needs children at several times the rate of regular students. Yet, according to complaints and audits, TMS does not provide the additional services but uses the extra money to balance the budget, pay high salaries, etc. Interested citizens will find out more about current practices once two current audits are completed and released to the public.

The administration’s attitude toward the union—basically stone-walling–is emulated in its treatment of parents, students, and the board members, who have come under siege due to politically-motivated lawsuits.  Throw in scurrilous stories in a politically biased local press and you can see how administrators and their supporters have diverted attention from failure. There’s more than a hint of cultural and ethnic bias in the mix, given the historic failure of Hispanic students in Taos.

Local Politics

In Taos local government is generally less interested in delivering services or goods than it is about maintaining power and control via “movida-making.” The administrators at TMS epitomize the “movida-making” principle–short term gain at the expense of students, teachers, parents, and board members. By voting with the administrators, board members Coca-Ruiz and Cordova handed their political enemies at CRAB Hall and in the media another card to play: the union. Like Gallegos, they should have supported the union not only because of politics but because it was the right thing to do.

Further, now newcomers Weston and Spinelli have made a deal with the permanent cadre at CRAB Hall. The two neophytes will be sucked into the vortex of local movida-making and get spit out or emasculated. They are dealing with the past masters of passive-aggressive “yes” means “no” behavior.

Coca-Ruiz and Cordova may be exhausted by lawsuits, tension, etc. Or they may be biased against unions and unfamiliar with labor law and in a hurry to satisfy PED. But the administrators have manipulated teachers and budgets for years. The CRAB Hall elite has more control over teachers, hiring and firing, raises, increments, etc. than does the union. TMS needs a strong union to protect the public against unscrupulous and failed administrators—if the public schools are to survive.

The growth of charter schools is a direct result of systemic and political failure at TMS—hiring based not on merit but on who conforms to the CRAB Hall controllers.

Board members are elected but can do little due to HB 212, which vests all the power in the hands of the school superintendent. Gov. Richardson and his hacks at PED destroyed any serious potential for reforming the public schools back in 2003. The poor performance of New Mexico public schools—despite higher teacher salaries–supports this claim.

Parents will continue to try and create charter schools because their elected officials have little effect on the education bureaucrats in New Mexico—who resist—almost unanimously—change.

Real Education

A real education is based on the acquisition of knowledge: reading, writing, and arithmetic—the acquisition of critical thinking skills in context. And, contrary to received wisdom, students can be taught in a coherent manner from K through 12, given the right curriculum and opportunity.

There’s no vision or leadership at CRAB Hall. I’ve never heard the TMS board or administration discuss a concrete or specific philosophy of education in a public meeting. Yet, I have observed and experienced a coherent vision of education in the community on two notable occasions.

At the beginning of the Taos Charter School, I witnessed the nascent philosophy of education in specific terms. A coherent—knowledge-based curriculum, analogous to the history of ideas was developed under the guidance of founder Gary Embler (among others). Specific texts, math and science courses, were institutionalized and implemented. Literary texts, eras in history, math and science areas, etc. were named. You could look in the curriculum to see what poem from Robert Frost students had learned in the first grade or how much they knew about Shakespeare in the fourth or what they learned about the American Revolution and George Washington in the 5th. When students began to learn about fractions and geometry parents and teachers knew what to expect.

During Principal Bob Benavidez’s time at Ranchos Elementary School, I saw students reading, writing, and doing arithmetic similarly to the charter school. At the end of a lesson, the students could test themselves by taking self-administered quizzes from a computer in the classroom or library. All the library books were labeled so a student could gauge his or her incremental reading improvements. A 4th or 5th grade teacher taught writing much like Eng. 101 in university:  brainstorming, free writing, and revising with an eye toward improving the structure of the piece.

Once again, like the Charter school, Benavidez built student knowledge on previous classes. Fifth grade teachers knew what students had been taught in fourth grade. Like the Taos Charter School, Benavidez’s students passed AYP. The students were especially impressive–given the demographic challenges: high poverty rates, high percentage of second-language learners, lots of kids from socially dysfunctional families.

“We tell them, regardless of their home life, they can succeed here,” one teacher told me at Ranchos Elementary.

You could ask a student in Mr. B’s school about the specific book or math problem. The student in turn could give you a critical analysis of how he or she was doing and in what area he or she needed improvement. The atmosphere then at Ranchos Elementary reminded me of a nice private school: warm, cheery, and hospitable. Mr. B. had a reputation among teachers and students for being a firm disciplinarian.

So we know that Taosenos in both the private and public sector are capable of delivering education. But at TMS the political will and individual energy are absent.

On Controversial Topics

Recently, some observers across the country have been scandalized by the Texas state textbook commission’s insistence on revising history. A few years ago, a Kansas school board substituted teaching Creationism instead of Evolution.Course revisionist political history is a way of life in Taos. And little do the creationists know how reading the Bible is a subversive exercise or that Jesus was the ultimate revolutionary.

I would love a public controversy about curriculum–instead of politics–at TMS. Should students read Plato, Shakespeare, the Bible, or Blood and Thunder, Jimmy Santiago’s poetry or rap songs, or about Rodolfo Anaya’s opinion of flour tortillas. Let’s hear a presentation in public about the new math v. traditional math and see the data on test scores. Perhaps popular magazines, media studies, and computer education make more sense for today’s students. When administrators speak at CRAB Hall about training programs, Open Court, or whatever in the language of abstract conceptual jargon, one cannot understand if they are even talking about education.

If you aren’t taught to read, write, and do your numbers, then it doesn’t matter what you study. THS teachers say many of their students arrive in 9th grade unable to read much of anything. Neither creationism nor revisionist history threatens our students but politics does.

Just as parents are scuffling in search of charter schools, students are finding alternative solutions in GED programs. This spring, the UNM GED program graduated 78 students. How many students graduated from Taos High? You can go on to community college with a GED. The “Disappeared Barber,” who has two GEDs, works at a well-paying vocation.

As for the new committee on “vocational education” at TMS, what makes for vocational possibilities? What do the students say? THS has received high marks for its culinary program. I dare say the successful students in the kitchen can read recipes, calculate ingredients, and write up orders.  It’s hard for schools to compete with the look of  fast-paced lives depicted in pop culture, or on the Internet, or even among teen peers, who live the glamorous vida loca of the underground cholos.

Conclusion

Education is not just about getting a decent job (if there are any) or going to college to get a decent job (if there are any). Education is about improving the quality of one’s mind so you can enjoy the texture of everyday living–nature, art, civil society–regardless of how you earn your bread and butter. The larger purpose of an education in a democracy means becoming a citizen, a citizen who is encouraged to think critically and imaginatively about his or her political choices.

The word “education” comes from the Latin, “e ducare,” meaning to lead out of, especially “ darkness.”  Most of the folks who spend time at CRAB Hall have mistaken the illusion of education for the real thing. Like the folks studying the shadows, who are left behind in Plato’s Cave, the CRAB Hall elite are chained to their chairs or the table at the front of the room and rarely meet with students or teachers or visit local TMS campuses.